International cyber fraud racket busted in Noida, police arrest 18 ‘Microsoft support agents'

Indian Express

5 days ago

The Noida Police on Thursday busted an international cyber fraud racket and arrested 18 people, who allegedly ran a fake call centre posing as 'Microsoft support agents'. The group targeted foreign nationals and duped them of thousands of dollars, the police said on Friday.
Operating from a rented house in Sector 65, the accused — two of whom are women — used sophisticated tools to send malware to the computers of the victims. By misleading them into believing that their devices were compromised, they coerced the victims into granting remote access to their systems and paying hefty fees for 'repair'.
The police raided the centre and recovered 23 laptops, 25 headsets, 23 computer mice, 27 laptop chargers, 17 mobile phones, a pen drive, and several fake Microsoft ID cards from the premises. The arrested individuals hailed from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and Uttar Pradesh. Many of them were staying at rented flats in Noida's Sector 116 and Sector 50, the police said.
According to police reports, the group acquired data of foreign nationals, mostly American citizens, through contacts based in the US. The scammers would first send bulk emails warning users of a bug in their systems, urging them to call a technical support number. When unsuspecting users responded, their calls would be redirected to the fake call centre in Noida, facilitated by a specific software, the police said.
The fraudsters would then pose as Microsoft technical experts and convince the callers to install certain remote-access applications.
'Once granted access, they would open a command prompt and show fake evidence of viruses, warning them that their bank accounts and credit cards were at risk of being hacked,' said Shakti Mohan Awasthy, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Central Noida.
He added that the callers were pressured into buying expensive software packages to remove the supposed bugs, priced anywhere between 250 dollars to as high as 5,000 dollars. Payments were received through various channels, including one called 'Zelle' and cryptocurrency wallets, the officer said.
The gang had been operating for at least six months, with two masterminds identified as Aakash Tiwari and Akash Kumar who allegedly coordinated with an accomplice in the US who was responsible for 'email blasting' sending fake warning messages to foreign nationals in bulk, the police said.
The accused have been booked at the Noida Phase 3 Police Station under multiple sections.
Police said that the scam had been operational for the past six months, and they are probing the network's links in the US and other countries. More arrests are likely, Awasthy said.